Butterflies. Nervous anxiety. Slight blushing.

All occur when I see Maria in my sitting room. She’s not dressed particularly different and I’m not close enough to smell her. Dressed plainly that shows only a slight amount of cleavage, her dress covers almost all of her exposed skin, and fits her extremely well.

Gah! Seriously, this is bullshit. Maybe I should wank after this meeting, before going to the village.

Beyond fucking ridiculous.

Maria smiles brightly at me when I enter, causing my heart to stop for a moment and my stomach to twist itself into knots. “Gram! I’m glad you could see me so early, I need to…” She doesn’t get to finish as I interrupt her by holding up a hand.

“It’ll have to wait a moment.” I say over my shoulder while heading for the back and rear exit to the mansion.

“Wha…” Slightly shocked, Maria gapes and then I’m completely turned away from her.

A few moments later, I’m by my damaged experimentation tree. I take a deep breath, let it out, then supercharge a fireball with three hundred MP.

Having made sure I was compressing it while charging it, a watermelon sized ball of fire is floating above my hand. I then decide to act on a cliche from all the games I’ve played and reading I’ve done in the past - I let my emotions surge and focus them towards the floating ball of destruction.

There comes a time where enough is enough. I’ve never been a hero, never claimed to be and never wanted to be. I’ve fought and killed for my country, for my freedom, for my wife… and the child I’ll never meet but always wanted. I’m not even a nice guy, to be honest.

As I finish channeling all my negative thoughts and utter frustration at these teenage like, hormonally driven reactions, the bright ball of floating death darkens to a deep vivd purple and swells to a beach ball in size. Heh, guess this follows the cliche as well.

I sight my gaze to the rocky wall that encompasses the valley off in the distance, while still aiming within my property line to prevent any incidents. No wind up, no yelling, not even a grunt of exertion, just simple will and determination - and it’s off.

Watching it accelerate away, leaving streamers behind in a dazzling display, I can’t help but mutter a nostalgic reminder of times long gone but still cherished. “Dragon…”

Impact. Flashy explosion. Sound wave, followed by a decent amount of heat. Even at a distance of over a thousand feet, that was pretty impressive.

“... slaver.”

Not much in the way of debris, most being pulverized to fine dust from the magical explosion. A crater in the side of the tall cliff, over fifty feet by my guess, remains and leaves a decently curved slope to the top of the cliff. It might be easier to climb now. Any tall grass around the epicenter lays flattened.

“What in the name of the moons was that all about?!” Looks like I have an audience.

Glancing behind me, I note the family that’s house sitting and Maria are all present and gaping at my magically fueled tantrum. I don’t feel even a shred of shame or embarrassment from that, but rather than admit the true cause for such an expressive venting, I just keep it simple.

“I had an idea I was about to try when I was told you came by, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to experiment and possibly forget it.” Slight smirk almost arrogantly pasted on my face, I turn to face the small crowd properly.

Stunned reactions, those were expected. I imagine the people here were not used to seeing such blatant displays of power, especially near their village.

I do note to myself that I need to make that spell properly if I’m going to do it justice in the future. While I won’t be chanting to a deity, or chanting at all, I ought to be able to construct the infamous spell with more credibility than just using fire. Maybe adding plasma…

“But, I thought you were an enchanter?” Still stunned, Maria is gazing at me with a bit of awe. I think?

I shrug in response while walking closer. “So, what did you want to talk about?” No butterflies, no anxiety. Did I purge it all out? Strange.

Maria shakes herself slightly, then smiles that beaming smile of hers. “Oh, right. I needed to talk to you about that hotel and bath you made. You made that right?”

Nodding in the affirmative, I patiently wait for her to continue as I’m sure that was a mostly rhetorical question.

Clasping her hands together in front of her chest, she continues, “Do you realize what you’ve done? You made such a grand building and made a bath that even nobles would be envious of!” She’s really getting expressive in her excitement. “Do you have any idea of the amount of money you could make with this? You could be richer than even the kings of this world if you op-”

Holding a hand up to interrupt her again, I state, “I didn’t make it for profit. I made this for a lasting legacy and to ensure that the families running it will be taken care of for generations to come.” I cross my arms. “I’m also hoping it’ll improve the quality of life for people here.”

Maria is puzzled, a slight tilting of her head. “I’m not sure what you mean.” Half statement, half question.

“I’m not sure if you are consciously aware of it, but nearly everyone reeks. Based on my explorations, hygiene barely exists here.” Maria is an intelligent woman, she has to be for her job. I imagine she can put things together without me giving a twenty minute lecture about why I did this.

Thankfully, I was right in that regard. “Ah, by introducing a cheap method to bathe and clean ourselves, we improve our health and daily life.” She’s nodding thoughtfully while she slowly speaks. She must have already seen the proposed prices for using the bath, which is a steal given the quality and amount each enchantment is worth.

The price is so low, even beggars could bathe there.

With no payments of any kind to make, the families running the inn will make pure profit from every transaction there. Whether people staying the night, to people coming in to bathe - any monies gained puts them in the black.

Granted, there are some things they will need to either purchase or make; like beds, linens, towels, and the coveted soap. This way there will be a greater appreciation for what they have rather than everything being handed to them.

Or so my thought process goes.

“You could always travel and open up more.” Maria is apparently a bit of an entrepreneur, her thoughtful face giving credence to the depth of her musing.

“I’m a stranger to this world, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. That aside, I’d have to have families run the place and a whole slew of other details - just like for this place. Purchase land, people to manage it, build the places, ensure security…” I shake my head. “No, way too much trouble.”

“I get it. You practically stumbled onto the idea here and with this being your property, you’ve guaranteed protection for the inn. No one would attempt a hostile takeover if the property the inn is on already belongs to you.” Maria replies, apparently still deep in thought.

Maria appears to be about to continue with another attempt at commercializing my bath house when I interrupt her again. “Look, if you want to attempt to try to get me to open these all over then we’ll have to talk about it another time. Why don’t you take the time to think it through and compile it all together for later. I’m not against listening, but right now I’m not interested and there is way too much to be done for each building than I care for right now.”

She nods, then changes the subject. “Ok. That aside, how are you so powerful? I’m seeing you are only a level one enchanter, how could you make that massive explosion without passing out?”

Insert arrogant smirk. “Trade secret, perhaps another time.”

Bloody hell, I’m flirting. The smirk falls from my face like a rock off a cliff.

I was going to ask her if there was a place in the village that sold tobacco products, but I think I need to get as far from her as possible right now.

Trying to get away without being out right rude, I say, ”Well, if that is all, I have some things to accomplish and more experiments to run. I imagine you still need to get to the mayor’s place, so I won’t keep you any longer.”

Maria’s face blanks for a second, then a gentle smile appears on her face. “You’re right, I’ll get the notes together and try to persuade you again later. Bye, Gram.”

I nod and almost powerwalk back to the house. Once I’m back inside my room, I take another deep breath and try to relax. Another niggling thought in the back of my mind.

Brushing it off since those thoughts apparently never make themselves obvious, I curiously check to see if anything has changed in my stats.

Name:

Gram D. Randal

Age:

29

Job:

S01di3r

Level:

!#$^%

Exp

---

To next lvl:

*#%^&

Race:

hUmaN

Stat points:

0

HP:

1820

MP:

1950

SP:

1840

HP Regen/min

172

MP Regen/min

178.5

SP Regen/min

176

Strength:

81

Agility:

96

Intelligence:

94

Endurance:

84

Dexterity:

102

Wisdom:

81

Charisma:

65

Luck:

2

What. The. Fuck.

You know what? Fuck this, I’m done with you System who’s done nothing but bullshit me since I got here. Fuck you and the camel you rode in on.

I make my way back into the mansion proper, looking for one of the sitters.

After a few minutes of searching, I found the young woman who notified me about Maria arriving and ask her about the tobacco. She doesn’t know where or if they have such a thing in the village.

Thanking her, I make my way to Sarnico and exercise my flying boots for a quicker trip. Best to see Tepindo first, seeing as he’s been there for a bit. Hopefully he knows what I’m talking about and can point me in the right direction.

It’d be a damn shame if I can’t indulge in a bad habit or five. I’m supposed to be enjoying myself, right?

Right.

Short jaunt through the village later, the bell above the door chimes when I enter Tepindo’s shop. Teena is still a bombshell but wearing a drab dress, standing behind the counter as usual.

Waving in greeting, I query, “Morning Teena, is your father around? I have a question for him.”

“Good morning Gram. My father is upstairs, I shall see if he is available.” Bowing slightly, she makes her way to the back and I guess upstairs. Formal much?

Taking a moment to glance around, I notice a lot of the materials I brought to Tepindo are present on shelves and the counters. I don’t even bother to look at the prices, as they don’t matter to me given I could ask for said items if I have need.

Tepindo makes his way past the counter and greets me. I ask him about the tobacco and he gets a thoughtful look on his face.

“I believe I know what you speak of, but I myself don’t use it. I hear that the capitol sends adventurers into the labyrinth nearby for a host of items every month. If I recall, that may be one of them.” There is a gleam in his eyes, apparently I’m making the entrepreneurial spirit in people rear its head.

“So… I need to go and get it myself and… You want some too, don’t you?” He smiles.

Ugh. I set myself up for my own fetch quest. Sigh.

I physically sigh while pulling up my map. “Show me, I’ll get some for you as well. But, it depends on the amount I gather.”

“Excellent! No need for an agreement then, I’ll honor your words since you’ve done so much for me already.” Tepindo is apparently very pleased with all the odds and ends I’ve brought him from my material gathering spree.

He marks my map, showing that travel to the capital city Fleetingval would take a normal person the better part of a month to get there. Talk about a vast kingdom…

Oh yeah, I forgot about the the undines…

“Tepindo, do you happen to know why visits to the undines stopped a decade ago?” Might as well be direct as possible.

Clearly puzzled, Tepindo actually stops and thinks for several long moments before replying. “I hesitate to say anything regarding this as I honestly had no idea such a thing occurred. I only know of their location due to a traveling merchant selling me what you saw on the shelf.”

Hmm… this is likely a flag. I’m not really that interested to figure out the how’s and why’s of this fuck up, or lack thereof in this case. “When I encountered the undines, they said they haven’t had any visitors for a decade from this village. I’m not sure if it’s important or not, but you may want to pass the word on to anyone interested.”

Metaphorically patting myself on the back for not only avoiding a troublesome quest but also likely getting it resolved by someone else, I feel like I’ve done my good deed for the day.

Nodding in agreement, he replies, “I will pass this on, agreements like this are usually very important for relations between our parties. Thank you for passing this on, Gram.”

I give Tepindo a thumbs up and then exit his shop. Time to visit the capitol: Fleetingval.